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Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is one of the leading causes of death in the United States killing more than 1,000 people each day — more than breast cancer, lung cancer, stroke or AIDS. These are the type of compelling statistics that help a misunderstood health issue like SCA get noticed, but they don’t tell the full story. We saw an opportunity to create new research to uncover some of the driving factors behind this public health issue from both a patient and physician perspective. Working with our client, the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS), a working group of their members and a national research firm, Ipsos Healthcare, we set out to take a fresh look at the perceptions and behaviors that impact SCA prevention today.

The unknown impact of SCA

While SCA can happen to anyone, research shows that the condition disproportionately impacts minorities — particularly African-Americans. A study on racial differences in the incidence of cardiac arrest and subsequent survival found that African-Americans were significantly more likely to experience cardiac arrest in every age group compared to Caucasians, and the survival rate after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest among African-Americans was about one-third that of Caucasians.

Why are African-Americans more likely to die of SCA?

There are risk factors that are of particular concern for this group, including higher incidence of heart disease and hypertension. However, the new research suggests that a large percentage of high-risk patients, particularly African-Americans, are not aware of SCA and are not receiving lifesaving treatments, resulting in greater mortality rates. The sample included 1,500 adult consumers and 300 physicians (primary care, cardiologists and electrophysiologists) to better understand levels of awareness of SCA and barriers to care. The results clearly demonstrated significant gaps in communication regarding SCA among African-Americans and the physicians who treat them:

African-Americans are significantly less familiar with sudden cardiac arrest, with only 18 percent able to correctly identify the condition, compared with 24 percent of the general population.

This is a preview of Delivering the Data: Grounding Communications in Research to Reach High-Risk Patients. Read the full post

The world continues to change so quickly. Using technology to connect with target audiences is essential in penetrating the cluttered atmosphere, especially in the field of healthcare. Social media has expanded our professional coordinates and positioned communicators to participate in the real-time conversations shaping the marketplace of ideas.

For the last 20 years, I have seen how successful policy and campaign workers use technology to transform outreach and activism. Those who embrace the effort, become early adopters, build their critical mass and consume the environment like a tidal wave.

At first, it’s overwhelming, but eventually you find your groove. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Groupon — initially, it did not occur to me to join them. However, for career insight or to get a better deal on frozen yogurt, it is essential to be plugged in. Patterns definitely emerge, and information management becomes key.

I’ve seen the impact firsthand at my organization, the Oncology Nursing Society. We’re engaged in a multitude of membership advocacy efforts that educate decision-makers on nursing and cancer.

This is a preview of Building a Grassroots Army on the Internet: A Guide for Adopters at All Stages. Read the full post

To explore current public relations/communications practices with Wikipedia, I’m conducting a survey sponsored by the Arthur W. Page Center. My goal is to explore current engagement with Wikipedia and identify what changes are necessary.

I started researching Wikipedia in 2006 with Marcus Messner, Virginia Commonwealth University, and we have been arguing for years that public relations professionals should monitor their Wikipedia articles. Our 2010 study found that the negative content in corporate Wikipedia articles increased from 2006 to 2008 to 2010 and articles were becoming less focused on historical information and more on legal issues and controversies.

This is a preview of Should Public Relations Professionals be Allowed to Edit Wikipedia Articles?. Read the full post

Following a productive period of submissions, comments and deliberation, we are pleased today to announce the final candidates for a modern definition of public relations. The definitions you see below have been developed by PRSA’s Definition of Public Relations Task Force, in consultation with our 12 global initiative partners. The candidates reflect nearly 1,000 submissions received last November and the hundreds of comments many of you provided on the draft definitions we presented last month.

Public voting is open from Feb. 13–26, 2012. We anticipate announcing the final winning definition, based on the public vote, the week of Feb. 27, 2012.

With thoughts (and client budgets) turning to the New Year, PRSA continues our tradition of an annual PR industry forecast. This year, we feature contributions from 12 creative thinkers in public relations. We asked for insight into trends they believe will fundamentally change the PR industry in 2012.

We hope you find value in reading these predictions. Please add your own in the comments below or by using the hashtag #PRin2012. We’ll capture the best contributions and publish those in a special baker’s dozen post in late-January.

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